Acoustic Birefringence via Non-Eulerian Metamaterials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how non-Eulerian acoustic metamaterials can induce birefringence, enabling advanced control of sound waves for potential applications like tunable filters and splitters.

Contribution

It introduces a novel non-Eulerian acoustic metamaterial design that enables acoustic birefringence, expanding the capabilities of wave manipulation beyond traditional materials.

Findings

Successfully engineered a non-Eulerian metamaterial for acoustic birefringence

Demonstrated manipulation of sound wave polarization

Potential for creating tunable acoustic devices

Abstract

The recently proposed concept of metamaterials has opened exciting venues to control wave-matter interaction in unprecedented ways. Here we demonstrate the relevance of metamaterials for inducing acoustic birefringence, a phenomenon which has already found its versatile applications in optics in designing light modulators or filters, and nonlinear optic components. This is achieved in a suitably designed acoustic metamaterial which is non-Eulerian, in the sense that at low frequencies, it cannot be homogenized to a uniform acoustic medium whose behavior is characterized by Euler equation. Thanks to the feasibility of engineering its subwavelength structure, such non-Eulerian metamaterial allows one to desirably manipulate the birefringence process. Our findings may give rise to generation of innovative devices such as tunable acoustic splitters and filters.